Where The Lonely Ones Roam
by Malin Halibell
Summary: Bella and Rose are small town girls stuck in a life they hate, until Edward passes through and shows them what they have desperately wished for - but they soon realize that not everything is as it seems. Edward is a dangerous man and Bella and Rose are seduced into his life of crime. Can they stay together until the end, or will everything be lost as they play this game? ExBxR
1. Roam With Me

**What is this? A new story. *cackles insanely* ****I'm so weak about posting new fics it's not even funny.**

**This _will_ be an Edward/Bella/Rose story. There will be no jealousy or cat-fights over Edward, and no drama about their relationship. Think of their relationship as kind of like Ben, Chon, and O from _Savages, _but other than that this is completely different.  
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**It will contain plenty of language and smut, along with bits of violence thrown in.**

**This story is going to be a little different for me, but it's been fun to write so far.**

**Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Twilight!**

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_Need to have a little trust in me_  
_Just close your eyes and let me lead_  
_Follow me home_  
_To where the lonely ones roam_

_Roam with me_  
_Come down to where all of the others fell_  
_Get lost in the dark to find yourself_

**_Where the Lonely Ones Roam - Digital Daggers_**

**BPOV**

Rosalie popped her bubblegum, making me cut my eyes at her from my spot on the counter.

"I swear, Brad can do way better than Angelina." She muttered, turning another page of her magazine.

"Oh? And I suppose you want to try to be that better?" I asked, smiling a little.

"No… maybe… I know it's not possible." She sighed. "But Angelina just seems like a bitch to me."

I laughed and refrained from making the comment that Rose could be a bitch too.

Rosalie Hale and I have been best friends our whole lives. We were both born and raised in Forks, Washington, a tiny town tucked away in the forests and barely a dot on a map. Our parents had lived here most their lives and were friends, so when Rose and I were only born four months apart, they thought our friendship was meant to be. And in a way it was.

We were in school together all the way from pre-school to high school - which we were almost finished with, both seniors. And while we did turn out to be the best of friends, I sometimes wondered how the hell we pulled it off.

We were nearly complete opposites of each other.

Where Rose had honey blonde waves, I had deep brown curls. Rose's eyes were the brightest blue I've ever seen, and mine were muddy brown. She was tall and curvy in all the right places, yet you could barely see my curves.

Our personalities were also polar opposites. She was perky, bitchy, popular, talkative, and down right charming. I was quiet, only mildly sarcastic, liked to stick my face in books, and clumsy.

Right now though, we were stuck in the same boat, so to speak.

Rose and I have been working at _Black's Diner _for a few months now, saving up money together. So far, we'd only made a few grand, so we still had a ways to go.

We made most of our money on tips, but today was slow, the lunch rush had consisted mostly of the older folks around here, and they tipped horribly. Now, the diner was practically empty, no one but the owners son and cook, Jacob Black, in the kitchen, and a woman with her two children in one of the booths in the corner.

It wasn't very busy on Sundays. Forks was a fishing and camping town, so on the weekends, three quarters of the town went down to the lake or camping back in the woods, not bothering to come back until late Sunday night.

"I'd like to ride him…" Rose mumbled.

I glanced over at the magazine and saw Ian Somerhalder on the page.

"Calm down, I don't want to mop up your drool." I teased.

She stuck her tongue out at me as I slid off my place on the back counter and picked up the coffee pot.

I slowly made my way over to the woman and her kids, politely asking if there was anything else I could get for them, trying to ignore her five year old son picking his nose.

"Just the check, honey." She replied.

Ugh. That's another thing I hated about living in such a small town; no matter what, I was always called 'honey' or 'sweetie' or 'darling'. It made me want to junk punch people. I'm nobody's _sweetie_.

So I went off to get her check, unfortunately having to come practically face to face with Jacob through the cooks window.

Jake and I had a rocky past; we'd been friends for a couple years before we dated for a few months back in sophomore year, but things quickly got awkward when Jake got drunk one night and tried to go a little too far with me in the backseat of his Jeep.

I wasn't opposed to sex, but I did not want my first time to be with a drunk guy, in the back of his car, with his hands fumbling all over the place.

After that, we called things off and it didn't take long before he started dating Leah Clearwater, a pretty girl that lived on the reservation with him. Nowadays we spoke to each other, but it felt a little like I was walking on thin ice.

"Hey Bella." He said, stopping cleaning off a plate.

"Hey." I said back, plucking the woman's ticket off the little wheel.

"You or Rose can go home for a few hours, you know we're not gonna be busy until after seven." He said, wiping his hands.

I thought about it.

Did I want to go home early to a bitter and drunk mother? No.

Did I want to be stuck here, bored without Rose to keep me company and alone with Jake? No.

Did Rose want to go home to her drunk father and asshole of a brother? I sure as hell knew the answer to that was a no.

"Ummm… Thanks Jake, but I'm sure both of us would rather stay here." I told him before walking away.

I gave the woman her check and she left, leaving me a three dollar tip.

_Better than nothing._

As I began to make my way back over to Rose, I heard the rumble of an engine. Normally, that wouldn't be anything odd, most of the cars around here were old or the engines made noise just for the heck of it, but this was different. The rumble was deep and healthy, not sickly sounding or stumbling.

So I turned, looking for the source, and cocked my eyebrow at what I saw.

A shiny black 1971 Challenger had parked right in front of the diner. Yeah, I knew cars, and it's definitely not a car from around here.

_It's probably someone passing through town to get to Port Angeles._

The car was only half of what had me staring, though. The other half was the man I saw climbing out of it.

He had to be no older than twenty-five, tall - maybe around 6'4" - and his hair was an auburn mess on his head, pieces pointing everywhere. He was wearing a simple pair of black jeans and a white v-neck shirt, showing off his biceps rather nicely.

"That's a hot piece of man beef." Rose said, and I noticed that she too was watching the man.

"Down girl, this one's mine." I staked my claim early, knowing that without it Rose would go after him and I'd have no chance.

We followed our own girl code, the number one rule being that if one of us called dibs on a guy, the other would back off.

She huffed, but went back to her magazine.

The man took long strides around the car, making his way into the diner.

I tried to make myself look like I wasn't staring at him, wiping down a table as I watched him out of the corner of my eye.

"Hello, welcome to Black's Diner." Rose greeted him cheerfully. "Just take a seat wherever and someone will be with you in a moment."

"Thanks." The man said curtly, his voice a little rough, but it still made my breath hitch a little.

I watched as he made his way to a booth in my section and I did a little dance inside. Throwing the cloth I'd been using on the counter, I pull out my pen and order pad, and walk over to him.

He's looking at a menu, but as soon as I sidle up to his table, his eyes glue themselves to my legs. I always wear shorts to work, because it gets me better tips with the guys, plus it gets hot in the back and I don't like to be sweating in a pair of pants all night.

"Are you ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?" I asked, clicking my pen.

His eyes move from my legs, moving up my body, over my tight black shirt that says _Black's Diner_ in big white letters, and finally to my face. Green eyes lock with mine and I subconsciously lick my bottom lip, which then brings his attention down to my mouth.

"I know what I want." He said softly, making me blush a little. "Just a burger and fries, with a coke. No mustard on the burger if you can."

I nodded, taking down his order on my pad. "No problem. I'll be back with your coke in a minute."

Rose was staring at me as I went past her, probably wondering what he said, but I went straight to the window, putting the order ticket on the little wheel for Jake. He gave me a look out of the corner of his eye, but I ignored it, getting the guy's coke.

The man didn't say anything as I went back over and set his drink down in front of him, but he did stare awfully hard. I didn't know whether to be flattered or creeped out.

A couple minutes later, Jake dinged the little bell, telling me that the order was up.

"Bella, do you want to hang out this weekend?" Jake rushed out when I got there.

I quirked my eyebrow and resisted the urge to laugh in his face.

"No." I said simply, turning away from him with the plate in hand.

I'd always felt like I was kicking a puppy whenever I turned down Jake for anything, but right now I didn't care, now I had something else on my mind. And he was currently leaning with an arm across the back of the booth, watching as I approached.

"Here you go." I set the plate down in front of him. "Is there anything else?"

"Sit down?" He asked, gesturing to the seat opposite him.

I hesitated, looking between him and over at Rose, who was watching us carefully.

_Why would he want me to sit down with him?_

I slid into the booth anyway, curious as to what he would want.

"You want a fry, little bird?" He asked, holding up a fry to me.

I froze, my eyes going directly to his.

_Little bird?_

What was that about?

Then I saw that his eyes darted down to the tattoo on my inner wrist of two little black birds, each one no more than an inch in size.

I had gotten them last year, when I was seventeen, working up enough courage to finally have it done. To everyone, it would just seem like a couple birds on my arm, but to me and Rose, it symbolized so much more. I'd gotten them as a representation of me and Rose, flying away to someplace better, where we didn't have to put up with our broken families and being stuck here, eventually getting married to guys like Jake and Mike Newton, who in ten or fifteen years would probably have beer guts and like to smack us around.

"My name's Bella." I told him.

"I like little bird." He smiled devilishly, making a shiver run down my spine.

I took the proffered fry out of his fingers and popped it in my mouth, trying to act as confident as possible.

"Fine then, what's your name?" I asked after I swallowed.

"Edward." He said simply, eating a fry himself.

_Edward_. Huh, a bit old fashioned… I would have expected an Edward to be sixty, not twenty something.

"Are you going to Port Angeles?" I asked, knowing it was probably that or Seattle.

"I go wherever I want to go." Edward said, slightly cryptic.

"What do you want, Edward?" I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he was about. I'm done beating around the bush.

He chuckled. "I want a lot of things, little bird. But right now, I want to talk to the beautiful girl sitting across from me."

_A charmer._

I couldn't resist snorting.

"You're all smooth words now, but I know what you're doing and I'm not falling for it. I know I live in one of the worlds smallest towns, but I'm not a fucking idiot." I said, standing up and leaving him to eat his damn burger.

"What was all that about?" Rose asked once I got back to her.

"I don't know." I mumbled, jumping back up on the counter beside her.

"He likes you." She sang under her breath.

"He wants to get into my pants." I huffed.

"So? A hot piece of meat like that wants you to take off your panties, you do it." She giggled.

"Maybe you do, but that's not me Rose, you know that." I nearly whined.

Rose wasn't a slut, per say, but she'd had her fair share of boyfriends, sleeping with at least half of them.

"Bells, you're eighteen years old and you're still a virgin. It's like I'm talking to a unicorn." She said quietly so no one else would hear. "I know that even you think the whole 'saving my virginity for someone special' thing is a big joke. Why don't you just get it out of the way and be done with it? And who better than the hottie who just strolled into town, and is about to stroll out. He won't get attached and follow you around like a puppy."

I sighed, tugging on a thick curl in my hair.

She did have a bit of a point. It's not like I was saving it for anyone in particular. And Edward was sexier than any of the guys around here.

"Just don't do it in the bathroom here, that sink is fuckin' uncomfortable." She grumbled.

I elbowed her in the arm and was about to say some witty remark, but she interrupted me.

"He wants you to come back." Rose said, waggling her eyebrows.

Sure enough, as I glanced over, Edward was looking directly at me, beckoning me over with his finger. I walked back over, wondering what he could want now.

"Yes, Edward?" I crossed my arms.

"Come with me?" He asked, smiling widely.

I tried not to think of the possible dirty meaning behind his three words, choosing instead to look at him like he'd suddenly grown a second head.

"Excuse me?" I exclaimed.

"Walk out of here with me, get in my car, and drive away to exotic destinations." He explained, the dazzling smile still there.

"Look, you seem nice and funny and you're cute," I started, watching as he quirked his eyebrow, "but I can't just leave with you! It may not be much, but my life is here. I have a best friend, and parents, and school."

"Your friend can come with us. Do you really give a shit about your parents? And school doesn't matter, you're smarter than all these fucks here anyway." He said.

I didn't know what to do.

Alarm bells were going off in my head - _Don't go with the sexy drifter man! He could be an ax murder trying to lure you away!_

Yet another part of me recognized this for what it could be - a way out. Something that Rose and I had been desperate for for years, but not having the means to do it.

"I'm stopping in Port Angeles anyway, if you don't want to go any further, you can leave and I'll give you money for a bus or a taxi, whatever you want." Edward said, looking at me sincerely.

"Why?" I wondered.

"Because, I was like you once." He said softly. "You hate it, don't you? You want to leave and never come back? You know that nothing this town can give you will ever be enough. I felt like that once, and I left and I haven't regretted it since."

I stood there, blushing as he pegged me right on the dot. It was like he could see every damn feeling I've ever had about the place.

"I… I don't know." I mumbled.

He reached out and carefully took hold of my hand, grabbing the pen sticking out of the apron tied around my waist.

"I'm staying at the hotel down the road. Here's my room number, if you change your mind, just come by. I'll be there until noon tomorrow." He said, writing on my hand.

When he was finished, I pulled it back to see the number _fifteen _written in black ink.

"Think about it, little bird." He said softly, getting up from the booth.

I was still staring at my hand, deep in thought, as he threw some money on the table and left.

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Rose drove me home in her beat up Jeep after our shift. Renee wouldn't let me have a car, so when Rose's dad bought her the old Jeep, she promised that it would belong to both of us.

After Edward had left, I'd taken most of the night to think over what he'd said, telling everything to Rose.

She was simply ecstatic about it, day dreaming about how Edward wanted to whisk me away.

She'd always been one for elaborate fantasies. I knew better, he was probably lonely and wanted someone along with him for a while, then when he got sick of me, he'd dump me in some random town and never look back.

"Are you sure you don't me to drive you down to the hotel?" Rose asked as we pulled onto my street.

"I'm sure." I reiterated to her for the tenth time tonight.

As we pulled into my driveway, I groaned when I saw Phil's car parked there.

Phil was Renee's newest boyfriend. After she and my father Charlie separated, she'd started drinking, then the string of boyfriends began. She'd gone through ten in the past year, but this one was lasting the longest. I didn't know why, because he was the worst of them.

I hated Phil. He was always drinking, just like Renee, and I'd catch him looking at me weird a lot. He made uncomfortable and I'm sure Renee either didn't believe me or didn't care.

"You can come stay with me tonight." Rose said, reaching over to brush some of my hair back.

"It's okay, I'll just stay in my room. That's what usually do anyway." I tried to smile.

"Call me if you need anything and I'll be here in three minutes." She said, hugging me goodbye.

I said bye to her and climbed out of the car, telling myself I could just run past them and up to my room.

I wasn't so lucky.

Renee spotted me before I was ten steps into the house.

"What are you doing home so late?" She slurred a little.

"You know I had to work mom, my shift didn't end until ten." I reminded her.

"Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot!" She yelled. I saw there was a bottle of Jack in her hand and sighed.

"I'm sorry mom. I'll just go up to my room and do some homework." I tried to placate her.

_I needed to get upstairs before Phil came along, because he'll just egg her on._

"Ha! _Do your homework_… like that's going to help you get out of this dump." She slurred angrily. "You think you're better than me and everyone else around here. Well guess what, you and the blonde slut are shit just like the rest of us."

Mentioning Rose was the wrong thing for her to do…

"Don't talk about Rose like that!" I almost yelled back.

I realized too late my mistake.

I'd been so caught up in my anger at Renee, I'd failed to notice Phil standing behind me.

Before I could blink, his fingers were tangled in my hair at the back of my head, yanking it back so I was nearly doing a back bend.

"I don't think you should talk to your mother like that, you ungrateful little brat." Phil growled, looking down at me menacingly.

I'd never truly been afraid of Phil. Sure, he creeped me out and made me uncomfortable, but never afraid.

Now I was.

Renee was drunk enough that she didn't care what he did now, and she wouldn't remember it later, so even she wouldn't stop him from doing god knows what.

I did the only thing I could think of to get away; digging my heel into his foot, which loosened his grip on my hair enough for me to pull away. I'd have to go past him to get to the front door, so I ran up the stairs instead, seeking the safe haven of my room.

I only got up two stairs before he was pulling me back, spinning me around roughly to him. I spit in his face, which seemed to shock him for a moment, before he turned red.

I saw his hand coming, but I didn't have time to process it. So when he backhanded me I was stunned, falling to the floor as the entire right side of my face erupted in pain.

Phil grabbed a handful of my hair again and began dragging my across the floor.

"If you're insistent on being a little bitch, I don't think you've earned the right to stay here." He snarled.

"Let go of me you son of a bitch!" I yelled, trying to pry his hands off me, but he was too strong.

Phil threw me out onto the front porch and slammed the door in my face without another word.

I laid there, stunned and in pain, trying to figure out everything that just happened.

Holy shit.

_Holy shit._

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I fought them back, refusing to cry because of anything that asshole did to me.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, momentarily bringing me back. I clumsily dug around trying to get it, and when I did, I nearly sobbed as I saw Rose's name flashing across the screen.

"Rose." I sniffed as I answered.

There was a moment of silence before she spoke.

"Why are you crying?" She asked sharply.

"Can you… c-come get me?" I stuttered.

"Where are you?" I could hear her running down her stairs as she spoke.

"At my house. I'm on the front porch." I said.

"I'll be there in two minutes."

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"I'm going to commit murder." Rose fumed, gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"They were drunk off their asses." I mumbled.

"It doesn't matter! What kind of mother - drunk or sober - stands by while her fucking boy toy beats her daughter?" She exclaimed.

I gingerly rested my head against the car window and closed my eyes. When Rose had come hauling ass down the street, I thought she'd gone insane. I'd had to keep her from going into the house to 'beat their asses' after I told her what happened.

She'd offered to take me to her house, but there was someplace else I wanted to go.

When I told her to drive me to the hotel, she did a double take, looking at me skeptically, but started driving anyway.

"Is my lip starting to swell up?" I asked, gently poking it.

My entire face throbbed, but my lip had been split open and was bleeding, and I was sure it was getting bigger.

"Yes." She winced looking at me.

Rose pulled the Jeep into the small and only hotel Forks held. It only had twenty rooms, two floors tall and was an ugly green color.

I was glad Edward had written the room number down on my hand, because right now I couldn't remember it for the life of me.

As we walked up to room fifteen, I was being to wonder if I was insane.

_No, I'd take a sexy, possible ax murder over Renee and Phil._

Rose knocked for me, taking my hand and giving it a light squeeze. Ten seconds hadn't passed before the door swung open to reveal Edward.

He took in Rose and I standing before him, then suddenly his eyes zeroed in on my lip.

"What happened, little bird?" Edward pulled my toward him gently by my shoulders, cupping my chin in his hand to examine my lip.

"Her mother's asshole boyfriend backhanded her." Rose practically snarled.

Edward glanced up at her and frowned before coming back to me.

"I'm fine." I mumbled through my ever swelling lip, but neither one of them listened.

"Bella, wait inside for a moment." Edward said, using my name for the first time since I'd met him.

"No, I'm fine." I repeated, but he gently pushed me into the room.

"Make yourself comfortable." He mumbled before closing the door, leaving him and Rose outside.

I scowled, walking to the small bathroom so I could really check out the damage. My bottom lip was swollen to nearly twice it's size, busted open and bloody. The right side of my face was pink and the back of my head hurt where Phil had dragged me around by my hair.

_Fucking awesome._

"Bella." Rose appeared in the doorway. "Are you sure you don't want to do anything about them?"

"I don't know." My voice warbled as I tried not to burst into tears.

"Oh, come here Bells." She said softly, wrapping her arms around me.

I buried my face in her blonde hair and finally cried.

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**What do you think of the gang so far? Next chapter will have much more Edward, so don't worry. This is only the beginning.**

**If you want, go to my profile and there is a link to my fanfiction tumblr, where I post pictures, teasers, and I can answer your questions - anon or not. A lot of you ask me questions in reviews, but are anonymous, so I can't respond.  
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	2. This Is Not My Home

_No matter how hard I try, you're never satisfied_  
_This is not a home, I think I'm better off alone_  
_You always disappear even when you're here_  
_This is not my home I think I'm better off alone_**  
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**Home - Three Days Grace**

**BPOV**

Rose and I were curled up on the one chair the hotel provided, my legs slung over hers so I was almost sitting on her lap.

I'd cried for a good ten minutes with her in the bathroom, only stopping after it seemed like I had nothing left to cry.

When we came out, I didn't see Edward anywhere and when I asked Rose about him, she just said that he was giving us some private time.

Now, it's been nearly a half hour since we got here and there was still no sign of Edward. I was starting to wonder where he'd gone, or if he just left, feeling that two emotional teenage girls were too much for him to deal with.

But I didn't have to worry for long.

The door opened slowly, Edward poking his head in the small gap.

"Is it safe?" He asked, smiling a little.

"You can come in." Rose answered him, tightening her grip on my hand.

Edward entered fully, closing the door behind him and I suddenly realize this is the first time the three of us are in a small enclosed room together.

Things are suddenly awkward. At least for me. I don't think Edward feels it, because he goes about his business, dropping a bag that he'd come in with on the tiny table.

"Here's that stuff you wanted from the store." He said to Rose, pulling out a cartoon of chocolate-chunk ice cream and a couple cans of Dr. Pepper.

"Good boy." Rose giggled.

Edward smirked at her and handed over the goods.

Somehow, I wasn't too surprised that Rose could make Edward run to get ice cream. He was different from any other guy she'd dealt with before, but he was still a guy.

"Here, load up on caffeine, it'll help." She popped the can and placed it in my hands.

I know that makes no sense, but caffeine helps me clear my mind and think.

"I need to go back get some of my stuff." I said, sipping on pop.

"You're not going back there." Rose said protectively.

"All I have are the clothes on my back!" I cried. "I need clothes, and my money, and my laptop, and -"

"I'll buy you new clothes." Edward spoke up, making Rose and I look at him.

"You're not buying me new clothes." I said. I'd always been too proud to take anything from anyone other than Rose.

Everything I had from the time I was fifteen were things I'd bought myself, or something Rose and I had bought together.

I wasn't about to let Edward by me a whole new wardrobe.

"Well I agree with Rosalie - you're not going back there." He insisted.

"What are you, my father?" I asked a little scathingly. "If I wait a couple hours, they'll probably be passed out and I can get in and get my things."

Rose huffed next to me and I saw Edward roll his eyes.

"Fine, but I'm going with you, and I reserve the right to kick the ass of the jackass who touched you." He said, his voice softening a little toward the end.

"… Alright." I sighed eventually.

"Now, let me see your face." He said, his voice still soft.

"It doesn't hurt so much now." I lied through my teeth.

Truthfully, the entire left side of my face was throbbing, my lip feeling like someone had dropped a fifteen pound bowling ball on it.

"Let me see, little bird." He murmured, kneeling in front of me.

My breath hitched at his nickname for me and I found myself letting him gently tilt my face back and forth for him to look.

"Rosalie, would you please go out to get some ice from the machine? Her face won't swell as much if we put ice on it." Edward said.

I was surprised when she got up from my side without a word, going out to find what he asked of her.

"You know, I wanted you to come with me, but not like this." Edward tried to joke, but it was halfhearted.

"I would have been here in the morning, anyway." I whispered.

We looked at each other, our eyes locked together, not saying a word.

It was the truth. I would have packed a bag and walked here if I had to. I hadn't fully realized it at the time, but the thought had been festering in the back of my head since he asked me in the diner.

The door opened, Rose coming though it with a cup full of ice, and Edward and I broke eye contact. I stared down at my hands while Edward got up to get something out of the bathroom.

"Did I interrupt something?" Rose mumbled, raising an eyebrow.

"No." I answered, hoping she couldn't see through the small lie.

"Uh huh." She drawled, unconvinced.

Edward came back with a clean towel in hand, taking the cup of ice from Rose and pouring some onto the towel.

"Here, hold this against your cheek." He told me, pressing it to my face gently.

I slipped my hand over his, holding the makeshift ice pack in place.

"Rosalie, do you need anything from your house?" Edward turned to her.

"What?" She asked, sounding a little hopeful.

"Well, Bella's not going back, so I assumed you wanted to tag along," He said, smirking a little.

"Hell yes." She agreed quickly, clapping her hands excitedly.

"We'll wait until morning, then go get your things and we'll leave town." Edward said. "Why don't you two take the bed, I can sleep on the floor."

**.**

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**WTLOR**

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"Wake up." A strange voice entered my mind, making me frown and burrow deeper into sleep. "Wake up, little bird. We have to check out in an hour and we still have to get your stuff."

I frowned, still unable to place the voice…

_Little bird._

Edward.

Edward called me that.

My eyes snapped open, coming face to face with said man.

"There you are." He chuckled, that dazzling smile in place.

"What time is it?" I asked drowsily.

"It's eight in the morning. Rosalie went out to get some coffee, she should be back any minute." He said, standing up from his kneeling position beside the bed.

Slowly, I sat up, feeling a little dizzy and my face felt worse than it did last night.

"My face hurts." I groaned, cupping my cheek.

"Yeah, it will for a while." He winced. "It's not real swollen or anything, but you can definitely tell you got smacked around."

"Awesome." I muttered sarcastically, stumbling past Edward into the bathroom.

As I looked into the mirror, I saw that what he'd said was right - all the way down from my eye to my chin on one side of my face was a light red. It hadn't swollen - at least not much - and there wasn't any bruising, yet. That might come along later today or tomorrow. My lip still looked nasty, dried blood caked to it and looking like I'd been stung by a bee.

Not my prettiest day.

I wetted a washcloth and tried to wash some of the blood off my face, wincing every time I touched my lip.

I wanted to kill Renee. I can't fucking believe what happened last night, she'd been so fucked up she let Phil beat the crap out of me and throw me out of my own house. It was clear to me now that Renee was no longer my mother.

"Let me do that."

I jumped a little, seeing Edward standing in the bathroom doorway.

"I've got it." I told him, wincing as I brushed against my lip again.

"You're doing it wrong - you can't rub, you have to dab." He said, taking the cloth from my hand and taking over.

I turned and leaned against the sink, allowing him to dab my lip, which I had to admit didn't hurt as bad now that he was doing it. Even early in the morning, Edward was just as sexy as he'd been yesterday. His hair a mess, clearly not having tried to tame it yet, his green eyes narrowed and focused on my face.

"Where are we going?" I whispered, breaking the silence.

"Anywhere we want to." He smiled, pearly whites shining down at me.

"If I wanted to go to Spain, we could go?" I asked, laughing.

"Yes." He answered seriously.

"With what? The magical bag of money you can pull out of your ass?" I asked sarcastically.

"Something like that." Edward grinned, tossing the cloth into the sink.

"Honey, I'm home!" Rose yelled.

I pulled away from Edward, not realizing I'd been only a couple inches away, and went to greet her.

"I have coffee and breakfast burritos." She said, setting the cup holder on the table.

"Thank God." I grabbed a styrofoam cup of coffee, taking careful sips.

"Food." Edward muttered, snatching an egg, cheese, and sausage burrito of the brown paper bag.

_Typical man - all he cares about is food._

"We should go to my house first, my brother and father won't be there, so it'll be the easiest." Rose said.

"Then we get to deal with Renee." I mumbled under my breath.

"Hey, she might still be passed out." Rose said cheerfully.

"I just want to get this over with and get out of this god forsaken town." I said.

"Eat something first." Edward said, shoving a breakfast burrito at me.

I caught a whiff of the amazing smell coming off of it and my stomach growled, telling me I was hungrier than I first thought. I quickly unwrapped it and after practically inhaling the burrito between large gulps of coffee, all of us were finished within a few minutes.

Edward packed up the few things he had laying around in a black suitcase and led us out to the Challenger.

"What kind of car is this?" Rose asked, running her finger along the hood.

"It's a 1971 Challenger." I answered before Edward could open his mouth.

When I turned around, I saw Edward staring at me with his mouth parted a little. I think he was surprised that a girl like me knew anything about cars.

"I uh… I'm going to go check us out, you two can go sit in the car." He said, handing me the keys.

I stifled a giggle as I watched him walk off toward the hotel office, mumbling to himself.

"I think you impressed him. Or scared him with your knowledge." Rose said.

"No, I'm pretty sure he didn't think a girl would know anything about cars." I snickered, unlocking the door and climbing into the front seat.

"You get shotgun now, but tomorrow I get it. I hate riding in the back of cars, it makes me feel like a kid." She complained.

"Hey, you get to spread out and be all comfortable. All I get to do is have a better view of Forks." I said.

Edward was back in a couple minutes, sliding into the drivers seat. He was sexy and confident when he did that, making me want to lean over and tackle him.

"Where's your house?" He turned around and asked Rose, jarring me out of my little fantasy.

"It's on Cherry Avenue, not seven blocks from here. Just take a left out and follow the road down." She instructed him.

Edward started the Challenger up, the engine rumbling alive, and I could feel the subtle vibrations radiate throughout the car.

"I think I'm in love with your car." I admitted, stroking the dashboard.

He laughed. "Maybe I'll let you drive it someday."

"Really?" I got excited.

"_Someday_… like in a few months once I get the hang of what kind of driver you are. I don't let just anybody drive my baby." He said, smoothing his hands along the steering wheel.

"Oh Jesus… Do you two need some private time with this car?" Rose asked, playfully pulling on a strand of my hair from behind.

"Just shush." I swatted at her.

Edward smiled crookedly at us as he drove out of the parking lot.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "I've just never seen two girls that are so… comfortable with each other. Most girls I've known are caddy and can't stand each other."

"Oh? And just how many girls have you known?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A few." He said, looking at me from the corner of his eye. "But I'm mostly talking about my sister. She doesn't play well with others."

"You have a sister?" I asked, realizing that I didn't really know anything about Edward.

"Yeah, her name's Tanya. If you decide to stick with me, you'll probably get to meet her soon." He told me, glancing over at me nervously.

"Tanya… that sounds like a bitch name." Rose piped up.

I laughed into my hand, thinking about how she was right. Tanya did sound like a name a bitchy girl would have. I expected Edward to be angry about Rose basically calling his sister a bitch, but he chuckled along with us.

"I can't deny that one." He grinned.

We came to Rose's street and I suddenly got nervous. She hadn't come back home last night, maybe her father or brother _were _home to be there when she came back.

But as Edward parked on the street outside her house, I was able to see that her driveway was empty of cars.

"Do you want to come in with me, Bells? I've never known how to pack lightly." She asked with a little humor.

"Oh, sure." I said, getting out of the car.

"We'll be back in a few minutes." I bent over and told Edward through the window, before intertwining my arm with Rose's.

"You should probably only take one suitcase. A few clothes, personal things, your laptop, stuff like that." I said as she unlocked the front door.

Rose's house was like many houses in Forks; split level, bedrooms upstairs and the living room, kitchen and bathroom downstairs. She had a basement as well, which most houses around here didn't have because of the flooding that would happen a lot.

We packed quickly, Rose going through her drawers and pulling articles of clothing out randomly, throwing them in the red suitcase on her bed.

I grabbed her black laptop off her desk, stuffing it in-between clothes to make sure it was well padded.

I noticed a picture of the two of us on her nightstand. It was on the day we started high school, we were sitting on the hood of her Jeep - which she'd just gotten the day before. Our hair was blowing around in the wind, both of us leaning in so our foreheads were nearly touching and you could tell we were deep in a conversation. I remember that one of our friends, Angela had taken the photo. She'd been going around taking candid photos for the yearbook committee to document the first day.

Instead of turning it over for the yearbook, she'd given it to us, saying it looked like something too personal and didn't feel right about publishing it for the whole school to see.

I picked it up, examining it carefully.

Even though it was just four years ago, we looked so much younger. Rose was shorter, her hair still in that bob she'd tried out the summer before, and while she had looked pretty, she hadn't been hot like she is now. And then there was me… my hair in a messy ponytail, my face was a little rounder than it is now, and I still hadn't developed the small amount of curves I have now. Those didn't come in until about a year after this was taken.

"Do you want to take this with us?" I asked her, holding picture frame up.

"Of course I do, it's one of my favorite pictures." She said, taking it out of my hand and looking over it.

She put it in the case with everything else, wrapping it up in a sweater.

"I think that's everything." She looked around the room, making sure she hadn't missed anything.

"Do you want any of your jewelry?" I asked. Rose had a jewelry box about a foot tall and a foot wide filled with rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. They were just extra pieces that she'd wear sometimes, though they were still worth a lot. Like me, she only wore a couple pieces of jewelry- a charm bracelet and a ring that had been her mother's on her right middle finger.

"No. There's nothing in there that I want." She said dismissively.

I didn't say anything else on the matter, helping her zip up her case and carry it downstairs. When we reached the porch, Edward got out and came to pick up the case.

"We could have gotten that." Rose said to him as she locked the door back up.

"I'm a gentleman, and a gentleman never lets a lady carry anything heavy." He grinned at her.

"You're a gentleman? Ha!" I laughed.

"I am!" He sounded a little insulted.

"Uh-huh… We'll see about that one." I smirked, elbowing his arm.

It surprised me a little how comfortable I seemed with him already. That we could joke around like we'd known each other for years. Even Rose was comfortable with him, and that wasn't something to be taken lightly. Rose hated a lot of people, she could act nice and charming to everyone, but she very rarely truly liked people. So it was strange seeing her warm up to Edward like this.

He put her suitcase in the trunk of the car and then we were off to my house.

This was going to be the hard part.

Renee would still be home and I didn't know about Phil. As we pulled up, I breathed a little easier seeing Phil's car gone, but I knew Renee would still be inside.

"Will you go in with me, Rosie?" I asked in a little voice.

"Of course." She answered, her hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Edward asked softly.

"Um… can you just wait on the porch?" I asked.

"Anything." He nodded.

We all got out and I made my way with Rose toward my house. I looked at it, plain white with faded red shutters and trim. The door was red, too. I'd always liked it, especially when I was little and it was freshly painted and bright. I always knew I was home when I walked up to that bright red door. But now it didn't feel like home at all.

I turned the doorknob and it opened instantly, already having been unlocked. I'm sure Renee didn't bother to lock it up again when Phil left either last night or early this morning.

Edward leaned against the railing on the porch and nodded toward the door, encouraging me to go in.

Rose and I walked in and instantly I was assaulted with the stench of cheap booze and cigarette smoke. As we went further in, I could see Renee sitting on the couch, wearing nothing but sweatpants and her robe wrapped around her, a cigarette was hanging out of her mouth.

She glanced over when she heard us.

"Oh good, you're home. Make me some breakfast, will ya? I'm starving." She muttered around the cigarette.

"I'm leaving." I told her.

"Well you can take five minutes to make me some eggs before you go shopping with Rose." She said bitterly.

"No. _I'm leaving_. As in - I'm packing a bag and never coming back." I clarified.

That seemed to get her attention. Her head snapped around so fast it was like a scene from The Exorcist.

"Excuse me?" Renee asked sharply.

"You heard me." I said.

"You're leaving? That's funny Bella, where are you going to go?" She laughed lightly, like she knew she had me trapped.

I didn't answer her, not wanting to tell her my exact plans. Instead I marched up the steps, Rose trailing silently behind me.

We packed quickly, going through pretty much the same routine as Rose had. Once I was finished with my clothes, I moved onto other things. My laptop, a few pairs of shoes, my notebook and few pens, my Ipod, and of course the stash of money I had taped underneath a drawer in my desk. I'd seen the trick once in a movie and thought it was a good idea, so I'd taken to doing it. Renee never found it, so I suppose it was a good idea.

I had just over three thousand dollars.

Combined with Rose's money, we had almost seven thousands dollars. I think we could survive on that for a few months.

I shoved it all into one of the small pockets in my bag and zipped it up.

"Come on." I said, grabbing her hand.

Renee was waiting for us in the hallway, blocking the path to the door.

"You are not leaving this house, young lady!" She yelled.

"I think I am." I said, pushing past her.

"I am your mother and you are supposed to listen to me!" She shrieked.

"You _were _my mother!" I turned on her. "You _were _supposed to take care of me and protect me! Not get drunk every night and bring your flavor of the month over so he can beat me!"

"I… Bella… I didn't mean to do any of that." She said pathetically.

"Well you did it anyway!" I cried. "I'm eighteen years old and I'm having to take care of my alcoholic mother! I can't fucking do it anymore! I can't put up with this shit! I won't! I _can _leave and you can't keep me here, I'm an adult, I can do and go wherever I want. Goodbye, Renee."

"Bella don't leave!" She lurched forward and grabbed me, but I shook her off my arm and headed through the door with Rose beside me.

Edward was still waiting on the porch for us, taking my bag silently.

"Goodbye." I repeated to her coldly.

This woman wasn't my mother any longer. I felt no love or sympathy for her, I was detached, able to leave her as she stood there half drunk and crying. I knew she wasn't upset that she was loosing her daughter. She was upset about loosing the only person who can support her and her habits. Without me, there would be no money. She couldn't buy her booze. She'd have to get a job of her own if she wanted more.

"Bella, sweetie… please stay. I'll be better! I'll try to stop drinking so much… and Phil won't come over anymore. Just please don't go." She tried to plead with me.

I didn't say anything more, walking behind Edward to the car. He threw my bag in with Rose's and we got in the car.

Renee was standing on the front steps, looking at me desperately and still yelling about getting better.

I shook my head sadly, feeling sorry for what Renee had become. I'd taken care of her for the past five years. It was time I took care of myself now.

"Ready?" Edward asked.

"Drive." I told him, looking away from Renee and what used to be my home.

* * *

**Things will start speeding up next chapter, I promise.**

**So, I will try - _try_ - to update this every Monday, give or take a day. **

**If you want, friend me on Facebook, I'm under Malin Halibell. Or come check out my fic Tumblr, where I post pictures, teasers, and my ramblings.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	3. That Boy Is Bad

_**Look at him  
Look at me  
That boy is bad  
And honestly  
He's a wolf in disguise  
But I can't stop staring in those evil eyes**_

**Lady Gaga - Monster**

**BPOV**

"What do you have to do in Port Angeles?" Rose asked.

"It's uh… it's just something I have to pick up." Edward told us, tapping the steering wheel with his long fingers.

"Cool, so where do we go after that?" She asked excitedly.

I couldn't blame her, now that we were out of Forks we wanted to go everywhere. Although she was acting a bit more excited about it than I was. I sat in the passenger seat next to Edward, my forehead resting against the window as he drove down the only highway out of Forks.

Edward laughed at her exuberance. "Anywhere you want. We can take a road trip all over the country. Or fly over to Europe, maybe go to France."

"We can go to France?" Rose breathed out, leaning forward so her arms were crossed on the back of the front seat.

"France, Italy, Greece, Spain… wherever you two want." He said.

"Where do you want to go, Bella?" Rose asked me.

"I don't care." I mumbled, not looking away from the passing clouds.

"Little bird… what's wrong?" Edward asked, reaching his hand over to grab my hand.

I startled, not expecting him to touch me like that, but I didn't pull away. His touch wasn't unpleasant - far from it - his hand warm and large, a tingle washing over my fingers as he wrapped his own around them.

"You've been so quiet… do you want to go back?" He asked gently.

"No! No, I don't want to go back." I rushed to reassure him. That definitely wasn't the reason why I was being so silent.

"Then what is it?"

"I've just been thinking… about Renee and some other stuff. It's a lot to take in, leaving the only life I've ever known so suddenly. I don't want to go back and I don't regret it… it's just a weird feeling." I tried to explain, probably sounding like a nut job.

"It's not easy, but it will get better over time." He surprised me by saying. "What? Did you forget what I said about going out on my own? It wasn't easy. My sister and I… we left our home when we were teenagers. We took care of each other for a long time, then we met some people who helped make it better."

"Are you and your sister close?" I asked, genuinely curious. The closest thing I've had to a sibling is Rose, so I've never really had that connection of flesh and blood. I was curious to know if it was different.

"Mostly, yes." Edward laughed. "But we have our moments when we want to kill each other. It's kind of a love hate relationship, but when it comes down to it, we'll protect and stand up for each other."

"That's really nice." I told him, smiling a little.

"But she's still a bitch, correct?" Rose asked.

"Rosalie!" I hissed.

"No, no Bella, it's okay. Yeah, she's still a bitch." Edward chuckled. "When you meet her, don't feel like you have to be nice, because she won't."

"I can hold my own." I said confidently.

Neither me or Rose were the type of girl to back down. I was a little worried because she was Edward's sister and it was clear she was important to him, but I wouldn't cower before her.

"I know you can, little bird." He smiled, winking at me. Edward's nickname for me always made a warm rush wash through me and I absentmindedly rubbed the tattoo on my wrist.

Eventually, we passed the sign welcoming us into Port Angeles and Edward straightened up in his seat, suddenly on high alert.

"I'm going to drop you off at a hotel while I go pick up the stuff I need - it'll take a few hours - and when I'm done we can go ahead and be on our way." He told us.

"Why can't we come with you?" Rose asked. "Are you doing something illegal? Or maybe you're going to murder someone. That's it, isn't it?"

He gave her a look over his shoulder, clearly saying that she was being ridiculous, but still smirked.

"I can assure you, I will not be killing anyone." He said.

Rose laughed like he'd just cracked a joke, but I caught something in his voice… his words. He only clarified that he wouldn't be killing anyone, not that he wouldn't be doing anything illegal. What did that mean? I was a little afraid to ask.

Edward drove into town and found the first hotel we came across. It wasn't too bad, definitely better than the one in Forks. Neon signs flashing that they had rooms available, color TV, and WiFi. Edward checked us into a room and gave us plenty of money for take-out if we wanted anything while he was gone.

"I'll be gone for four or five hours, but we'll have to leave as soon as I get back, so don't bother unpacking anything." Edward said, pulling out his cell phone.

I raised my eyebrow at all of this, but was smart enough to not question him.

Rose went into the bathroom to 'freshen up' and I took a seat at the small table in the corner of the room.

Edward spoke to someone on the phone named _Jasper _for a minute, something about coming to pick him up at the hotel. He hung up the phone and walked back over to where I was sitting, kneeling down in front of me.

"Will you be okay here?" He asked.

"Of course, I'm a big girl Edward, I can stay in a hotel for a few hours. Rose and I will amuse ourselves somehow." I said.

"You should put some more ice on your face." He said, gently running his fingers over my cheek.

"I will." I assured him, touching his hand on my face.

"After I'm finished, we can go wherever you want. I'll show you so much." He promised, standing up.

Just then, a loud honk sounded from outside, making me jump.

"Jasper." Edward grumbled, going to the door. "Hold on a minute!" He shouted out to the man.

Rose came out of the bathroom then, hair pulled back into a ponytail. "What's all the damn noise?"

"My friend is here." He told her, obviously not too pleased with this fact.

"What's the fucking hold up, man? We gotta go." A deep male voice said as a hand pushed open the door.

A man about Edward's size stood in the doorway. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, his hair blonde and fairly long for a guy, tied back at the nape of his neck. He was dressed in plain blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket.

"Just go wait in the damn car." Edward hissed at him.

"Whoa!" The man exclaimed in a light southern accent, his eyes landing on me and Rose. "Edward, what is happening in here?"

"Jasper, this is Bella and Rosalie." He introduced hurriedly. "And it's not like what you're thinking, Jazz. They're just some friends of mine."

"Well then, if they're just friends…" Jasper trailed off, shoving past Edward into the room.

He walked up to me, taking my hand in his and bringing it up to his lips.

"Good afternoon, darlin'." He winked.

I blushed, flattered that this good looking man was paying me any kind of attention, but I was also flustered about what to do.

"Uh… hello." I responded unsteadily.

He was about to say something else, but Edward pulled him away from me by the back of his jacket.

"Go wait in the car and try to remember your girlfriend. You know, cute little Alice. " Edward said to him, shoving him out the door.

"Sorry about that, he gets a little carried away sometimes." He turned to me and apologized.

"It's okay." I assured him.

"I better go before he comes back in here." He muttered, waving at us and walking out, firmly shutting the door behind him.

"Huh… So, what do you think all that was about?" Rose asked.

"I don't know and I don't think we should ask." I told her, flopping on the bed.

"Do you think he's like some mob boss?" She asked, laying down on her stomach beside me.

"No." I laughed.

"Then… maybe a drug lord? Those are getting popular." She said.

"Don't you think that maybe he's just running some errands?" I asked.

"He's being a little too cryptic and weird for it to be just everyday errands." She muttered, playing with her hair.

Rose had a point - Edward _was _being a little… odd.

"Look, if he _is _doing something fishy, that's his business. I'm not about to stick my nose in places it doesn't belong." I said firmly.

I didn't know if I was trying to convince Rose or myself.

"That Jasper guy was hot." She smirked.

"Didn't Edward say he had a girlfriend or something?"

"Damnit! The good ones are always taken." She whined.

I smiled, patting her hand soothingly.

"Let's just order something to eat and watch some TV." I said, picking up the phonebook to find a number for a pizza place.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

It wasn't until almost five o'clock that I heard a car pull up outside.

Rose and I were sitting in bed, snacking on the leftover pizza from a few hours ago. There hadn't been a whole lot on TV and the selection of corny porno movies the hotel provided was too tempting to resist.

I thought it was funny, watching how fake it all was. It was obvious the girl was always trying too hard to be loud and the guy always did over the top moves and positions. Rose took notes, complimenting some of the couples on the complexity of the positions. I guess I just didn't understand why someone had to get into such strange positions to have sex.

That's what we were doing when Edward burst into the room, looking a little sweaty and agitated.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing." He responded quickly. "We need to leave soon, so- are you watching porn?"

I blushed bright red, not having remembered that it was still playing.

"N-no!" I stuttered, scrambling for the remote, but Rose snatched it up before I could grab it.

"Yes, we are. You got a problem with that?" She questioned, cocking her eyebrow and staring him in the eyes.

"No, no problem… I'm just a little surprised." He said, his eyes flicking from us to the screen where a man a woman were currently having overly loud sex.

"We've got to leave?" I asked, trying to shift the subject.

"Oh - yeah. Clean up, I'll go check us out." He said, leaving abruptly.

"Well that doesn't scream criminal behavior or anything." Rose muttered sarcastically.

I frowned, looking at the door and wondering what the hell Edward could have been doing for the past four hours.

We cleaned up our small mess of pizza boxes and pop cans, shutting off the TV and then left to meet Edward outside. The sun was just starting to down, the sky a dark grey color as clouds set it. A normal night in northern Washington.

"You want to go to California?" Edward asked, pushing away from where he'd been leaning on the car.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Rose squealed. "Sun, beaches, little drinks with umbrellas in them, hot guys - I'm so fucking in."

"California doesn't sound too bad." I grinned.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~WTLOR~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Driving through different states was interesting.

Neither Rose or I had been outside of the tri-county area - pathetic, I know - so most of the trip was spent with us looking out the window and pointing things out to each other, much to Edward's amusement.

Edward drove most of the night, stopping only for food and pee breaks. Around one am, Rose crashed out in the back seat, snoring softly, leaving Edward as the only person for me to talk to.

For a few minutes, we sat in a comfortable silence, the radio on low in the background. I stared out the window, thinking about all the possibilities for what Edward had been doing earlier.

Rose's little remarks about him doing something illegal seemed to be permanently wedged into my brain, gnawing away at me.

I kept telling myself that it was probably smarter for me not to know anything, but now knowing was killing me.

"What did you and Jasper do earlier?" I finally blurted out.

Edward glanced at me quickly before focusing back on the road.

"I'm sure that you don't want to know the answer." He said softly.

"I'm in your car, crossing state lines with you, and we'll probably be crossing a lot more than states later. I think that gives me the right to know if you're doing anything that can get us thrown in prison. Rose is way too pretty for prison." I tried to joke a little.

"You're not going to go to prison, I'll make sure of that, no matter what." Edward told me.

"That's super reassuring." I muttered.

"Hey," He said sharply, getting my attention. "I mean it, no matter what I do, you or Rose won't pay for it. I can't tell you anything yet, just know that it won't hurt you."

I stared at him, realizing that I actually believed him.

What the hell is wrong with me?

"Just… at least tell me that you're not killing people. I know you told Rose that you weren't, but…" I trailed off.

"I swear to you, I was not killing anyone." Edward promised.

"Okay." I said, willing to drop the subject for now. "So, why California?"

"I figured that it would be a nice first place for you and Rose to go. You're both so fucking pale, you need a little sun and beach." He snickered.

I flipped my middle finger at him, trying not to blush. I knew I was as pale as a ghost, but there wasn't much sun in Forks, making it difficult to get a tan. There was one of those tanning salons in Port Angeles, but I'd seen too many cases of people getting skin cancer from doing that.

"Aw, now don't be mean, little bird." Edward said teasingly, grabbing the hand I was using to flip him off. "I actually like how pale you are… none of that fake crap. It makes you look like you're made out of porcelain… all soft and smooth." His voice had taken on a deeper tone, making me shift in my seat.

_Now _I was blushing.

"Yeah?" Was my genius comeback.

"It's a sin really, you not knowing how beautiful you are." He said.

"Rose is _beautiful_, I'm just _cute_." I said, crossing my arms.

"You've always lived in her shadow, haven't you?" Edward asked, I think rhetorically. "Always being told that she's the beautiful one, she gets all the guys, all the attention, while you stand behind her and take what's left over."

"I don't care." I mumbled, neither confirming or denying his words.

Edward seemed to have this annoying knack at reading my mind or something. Almost like he could see into my very soul. Or was I just that predictable?

"Are you so sure about that?" He continued. "I mean, you may not mind it because you've become used to it, but I think you do care. At least a little. You feel that little twinge inside of you every time Rose brags about having a date, while you sit at home by yourself."

"Now _you're _the one being mean." I huffed.

"Sorry… but it's the truth, isn't it?" Edward asked.

"Maybe." I muttered. "I… I've never once felt inferior or anything like that to Rose, I understood from the very start that we were different, inside and out. I've never been the one that went boy crazy, anyway, so it never mattered to me."

"That's a good way to think about it." He mused.

"Besides," I continued. "Rose and I have always had our own little 'handbook' for boys. If there ever comes a guy we both like, we'll deal with like mature adults."

"Like mature adults?" He asked.

"We play rock-paper-scissors." I laughed.

Edward let out a chuckle and shook his head.

"And who won when you saw me?" He asked a little smugly.

"What makes you think either of us even like you?" I asked coyly. Technically, I had just called dibs on him.

"You wouldn't be sitting here in the car with me right now if you didn't." Edward answered seriously.

"Touché." I mumbled.

"Are you two tired of flirting yet, 'cause I gotta pee." Rose grumbled from the back seat. I jumped a little, forgetting that she was even back there.

Jesus Christ, Edward was distracting.

"Why don't we just stop at a motel? It is after two in the morning, I'm sure we're all getting tired. We'll get an early start in the morning and we should be in Cali in the afternoon." Edward suggested.

"Perfection." Rose mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, I could use a bed." I said.

Edward drove another two miles before we found a motel, neon signs advertising various offers for rooms.

"Is this one okay?" Edward asked us.

"Hey, a bed is a bed. As long as it's semi-clean and there's a shower, I'm good." I told him, to which Rose nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, come on." He said, climbing out of the car.

I got out, Rose following and she slid her arm around my waist so I ended up half dragging her tired ass.

The thing about Rose was that whenever she was really tired, it was like she was suddenly a zombie. I had to help her stand or else she'd fall to the ground and just sleep there.

It was crazy.

We walked into the hotel office where an older man was sitting at the front desk, reclined back in a chair as he watched TV.

"We need a room with two beds." Edward said once the man realized he had customers.

The man looked between the three of us and gave us a dubious look before glancing down at the computer.

"There's a room with two queen sized beds, tv, small kitchen, all that good stuff." The man said unenthusiastically.

Edward paid for the room and was handed two sets of keys, giving me one, and we went off to find it. Rose was getting heavy leaning against me and I swear she was three minutes away from drooling all over me.

The room was on the second floor and I was facing hauling her up a flight of stairs.

"Here, let me carry her." Edward suggested, holding his arms out toward her.

He lifted Rose effortlessly into his arms bridal style, her head resting against his shoulder and she officially passed out.

As we walked up the stairs, I couldn't help but stare at Edward's ass in front of me. He was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged him in _all _the right places.

_I wonder what he'd do if I reached up and grabbed it… _

I blushed at my inner thoughts, looking down at my feet.

I unlocked the room door for Edward, turning on the lights as he carried Rose in, putting her on the bed farthest from the door.

"Let's go down and get the bags." Edward said lowly. I followed him back down the car, anxious to get some new clothes out of my suitcase. Plus, I could take a shower tonight so that Rose could have the bathroom in the morning. She would need it.

Opening the trunk, I frowned.

A large black duffle bag that hadn't been there before was sitting on top of my bag.

"Oh, Jasper dropped that off for me earlier." Edward explained when he saw the confusion on my face. "It's just some stuff that I asked him to get."

He grabbed the duffle bag, along with Rose's bag and we went back up to the room.

"I'm going to take a shower…" I said slightly awkwardly.

"Okay. I'm going to see what kind of food is around here, so I may not be here when you're done. I'll lock up when I leave." He said.

I nodded, digging through my bag and wishing I'd remembered to pack my own shampoo and conditioner. Great. Now I'd have to use the crappy stuff the motel had. Thankfully, I'd had the sense to thrown in my bathrobe, so at least I wouldn't have to use the towels here.

The bathroom wasn't the cleanest looking thing in the world, but what did I expect from a place like this? I'd seen a lot dirtier in my life.

I turned the shower on, cranking the hot water up. Stripping my clothes off and hanging them up on the towel bar on the wall, I stepped into the hot water, sighing in relief. A few moments later, I heard the front door close, telling me that Edward had left.

The shower was refreshing, washing away the filth of the day and relaxing my muscles. Hot water cascaded down my body, making me groan in relief as I ran my fingers through my hair. I washed myself with the crappy motel soap, just thankful for being able to get clean.

I made sure I was thoroughly rinsed off before stepping out of the shower, a little reluctant to leave. Wrapping my fluffy robe around me and taking a towel to dry my hair off with, I stepped out into the main part of the room. Rose was still sleeping soundly on one of the beds and Edward was nowhere to be seen.

The quietness of the room was a little unsettling, so I grabbed the remote, turning the TV on and lowering the volume as to not wake Rose. The news was on, something I found terribly depressing.

I mean, what was it other than an hour of all the most horrible things that had happened throughout the day?

A blonde woman in her forties wearing entirely too much make-up appeared on the screen, preening like a peacock.

"We're coming to you live from The National Bank of Washington State where the latest in the string of robberies has taken place." She said in a sweet voice. "It happened around two o'clock yesterday afternoon and we are just now able to report anything to you due to a hold the police had requested."

The camera panned to the bank, a parking lot full of yellow tape and police cars. "Our sources tell us that there were three men, wearing black ski masks and carrying high artillery guns. No one was injured in the robbery, and this seems to fit in with the other fifteen that have occurred across the country. The police and bank officials have not yet released exactly how much money was taken, but if the pattern remains consistent, we are sure it could be well over five million dollars. This is Sarah Gamble, back to you Eric."

The towel I'd been drying my hair with fell to the floor, my entire body frozen as I started at the TV.

_Two o'clock._

That was just barely an hour after Edward had left yesterday. And I knew that bank, it was one of the biggest in Washington, on the outskirts of Port Angeles.

Exactly where we were yesterday.

Three men… Edward, Jasper, and another guy, probably another of Edward's _friends_.

And then there was everything with dropping us off at the hotel, disappearing for hours, then coming back and insisting that we have to leave.

Everything was just too aligned to be a coincidence.

Then I remembered the black bag in the trunk that Edward had dismissed so quickly. Could that have been a bag of money? Or guns? Or both?

_Oh my God._

Rose and I were in a motel room with a bank robber.

The door opened and I couldn't help but let out a squeak and back into a bed, clumsily collapsing on it. Edward came into the room, carrying a bag from some taco place.

"Hey, I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got a couple tacos. I hope that's okay." He said, closing the door behind him.

Edward hadn't realized I was staring at him wide eyed, watching his every movement.

I know earlier he basically said he'd been doing something illegal, but… having something solid like that thrust in my face brought everything into a whole new light.

If he could rob a bank, then come back smiling and going on like nothing happened… what else could he be capable of?

* * *

**Do you really think that's what Edward was doing?**

**More next week, it's gonna be good. *wink wink***

**For teasers, character pictures, outfits, and songs, go to my profile page and follow the link to my fanfiction Tumblr.**

**Thank you for reading.**


	4. Maybe I Like This Roller Coaster

_**Baby put on heart shaped sunglass**_

'_**Cause we're gonna take a ride**_

_**I'm not gonna listen to what the past says**_

_**I've been waiting up all night**_

_**Take another drag turn me to ashes **_

_**Ready for another lie?**_

_**Says he gonna teach me just what fast is**_

_**Say it's gonna be all right**_

**Diet Mountain Dew - Lana Del Ray**

**BPOV**

I remained silent as Edward walked in and set the bag down on the small table. The news was still on, but the story about the bank robbery had finished and they were on something else that I was tuning out.

"What is it?" Edward asked, finally noticing how I was looking at him.

"I saw something on the news." I told him softly.

He glanced between me and TV cautiously, edging toward where I was sitting on the bed.

"And what was that?" He asked slowly.

"Everything adds up; the time, the location, the need to get out of Port Angeles quickly. You robbed that fucking bank, didn't you?" I asked heatedly.

"Maybe we should go outside." Edward asked, reaching out for me.

"No! We are going to talk about this now." I insisted, jumping up from the bed away from him.

"You'll wake up Rosalie." He said.

"I don't care. In fact, maybe she should wake up so she can hear this!" I was bordering on yelling. "Now answer me -_ did you rob that bank?_"

"Yes!" Edward finally hissed. "I told you, not three hours ago, that I was doing something illegal and you were perfectly fine with it. I did not hurt or kill anyone, we were in and out without any problems. The job was clean and quick."

I snorted, not knowing if I should laugh or cry.

"I… Jesus… I don't even know what to say to that." I told him.

"Bella… _little bird_… please, it's nothing. I do these kinds of things all the time, it's sure as hell better than being an accountant or lawyer." He said, scoffing a little.

I buried my face in my hands, still not knowing what the hell to say.

Just then, Rose started to stir, stretching and groaning unhappily.

"What the fuck is going on?" She asked, turning over to lay on her back.

"Edward robbed a bank." I said simply.

"That's badass." She laughed.

"Oh yes, because being a wanted fugitive is so badass!" I exclaimed sarcastically. "It's all over the news and apparently, this is not his first rodeo."

"So what, do you commit crime for a living?" Rose asked, sitting up.

"Kind of." Edward answered her uneasily. "It's a bit more complex than that, but yes, when you get down to it - I commit crime for a living."

"That's… how did you get into that stuff?" I asked, deciding to try to approach this calmly. Yelling and freaking out would not get me answers from him.

"For a while, it was how I survived." Edward said, fiddling with his shirt. "It started off with pick-pocketing and stealing enough for me and Tanya to get by, then we met Jasper and the others. They taught us that there were bigger things out there… better jobs and better payoffs."

"They taught you how to be criminals!" My voice raised a little.

"It's more complicated than that!" Edward shouted out. "They're our friends, _our family_, and they took care of us and taught us when no one else gave a shit. This is my life; the road, the money, the jobs, the thrill of it all. And I wouldn't change a fucking second of it."

I stood up from the bed, my hands firmly planted on my hips as I began to pace around the small space.

"Sorry, but I'm finding this hard to grasp." I told him.

"Bella, it's alright if you don't or can't understand. Hell, I think you're doing a pretty good job by not calling the cops on me." Edward said.

"I won't do that." I said fiercely, somehow feeling the need to assure him I wouldn't betray him like that.

_Why did I feel that?_

Even after all of this, I still didn't want to leave. I had no urge whatsoever to walk out that door and never see him again.

"Exactly what were you going to do with us in this life of crime you lead?" Rose asked, the first serious question she'd come up with since she woke up.

Edward had nothing to say for that, frowning and looking down at the gray carpet.

"Did you expect us to be the Bonnie to your Clyde?" I asked him when he didn't respond. "Did you want us to be crime buddies? Expect us to be perfectly okay with all of this and dive right in to robbing banks with you or whatever else you do?"

"I get lonely." Edward said quietly, still not looking at either me or Rose. "Most of the time, I go out on my own, only meeting up with Jasper or a couple of the others for a job and then we go our separate ways again. When I saw you…" He raised his eyes to look at me. "God, I wanted you to come with me. I wanted to talk to you for hours and have you there when I came back from a rough job. I know that's probably the most selfish thing you've ever heard, but it's the truth."

I looked at Edward, _really _looked at him, and for the first time since I met him could see the sadness seeping from him. My God, what a horrible life this must be. Not because of the illegal things he has to do, but because of the things he had to go through afterwards.

The lonely nights of hotel rooms and driving, not seeing your family for days or weeks and then having to say goodbye to them. And then everything he and his sister had gone through before all of this. They must have been only teenagers, maybe just a few years younger than Rose and I. And not even we had been desperate enough to run away from our parents with no place to go.

Without thinking, I moved toward Edward, kneeling down in front of him so that he couldn't stare down at the floor again.

"I know that we've only been here for about two days, but already this is a better kind of life than I have known for the past five years back in Forks. Even with all of the illegal bank robbing stuff. I would rather be here with you in this motel room than back home dealing with Renee and her shit." I told him, my voice full of conviction.

Edward looked into my eyes, his hands coming up to cup my cheeks. I stayed still, feeling the warmth of them seep into my face, my eyes fluttering shut when he ran his thumbs across my cheekbones.

It was strangely intimate, soft, almost loving.

I'd never been touched like that.

And now I never wanted him to stop.

Then I remembered Rose just a few feet away and embarrassment washed over me. I pulled back with a shy smile toward Edward.

"I want to stay." I told him softly. "If, of course, you still want me here."

"I think I'll always want you here." He murmured under his breath.

I smiled a bit more, standing up and looking awkwardly toward Rose, who was discreetly braiding her hair and not paying us any attention.

"And of course I want you here too, Rosalie." Edward said to her.

She glanced up at him and smirked, shaking her head slightly and going back to braiding. "I'm well aware that I'm the third wheel here. It's okay, I'm just happy to be away from that place."

"Well, you're both pretty fucking great." Edward said with a little chuckle.

"On a more serious note… What about this whole bank robbing thing? Are you sure that you won't get caught?" I was seriously worried about the FBI busting in and dragged him away in handcuffs.

"Oh no, I'll be perfectly fine. Alice, Jasper's girlfriend, is kind of a computer genius - she is able to hack into the whole bank system and disable the cameras and even unlock doors and vaults for us. We still wear ski masks so that no one in the bank can identify us, but that's more of an extra safety step than anything." Edward assured me.

"That sounds… _easy_." I said. I'd always thought of robbing a bank as some dramatic, complicated, scenario like in the movies. Police and FBI surrounding the bank, tense negotiations and shooting hostages.

"We were in and out in a total of thirteen minutes." Edward shrugged like it was nothing. "Alice is usually able to delay the security alarm to give us an extra ten minutes so the police won't respond right away. Then it's a basic five to seven minutes before they arrive at the bank, giving us plenty of time to get away and already be blocks or even miles away."

"Huh." Rose huffed. "That's pretty damn smart."

"We've been able to perfect our methods over the years." Edward said.

"So… that black duffle bag in the back of your car I saw earlier is… money?" I asked.

He nodded, getting up and grabbing said bag from under the small table, setting it on the bed heavily. He unzipped the bag, pulling it open so that the stacks of green were clearly visible.

"How much money is that?" I asked warily.

"Well, if Alice did the math right, it should be eight hundred thousand dollars." He said, looking over at me.

My mouth popped open a little as I stared at the stacks of money packed into the bag.

"Holy shit…" Rose muttered from beside me, leaning down to get a better look.

I don't think either of us had ever seen so much money in our lives, let alone so neatly packed into one small space.

Edward reached in, picking up a stack about five inches tall of hundred dollar bills and flipped through them.

"Want to go shopping?" He grinned, waving them in front of Rose's face.

Her eyes followed it like a dog with a bone, looking like she'd just hit the lottery. In a way, I suppose she did. Shopping was her one weakness; clothes, shoes, jewelry, handbags. She always had trouble not buying half a store whenever we went to the mall in Port A.

And now Edward was practically throwing money at her and telling her to go spend it.

"Yes, please." She said breathlessly.

"You can go to a few boutiques down in Palm Beach. If we get up early enough in the morning we should make it by nightfall." He said, throwing the money back in the duffle bag.

"I think I love you." Rose gushed, throwing her arms around his neck in a surprising display of affection.

Edward looked startled at first, but soon wrapped his arms around her waist to hug her in return.

Something deep in my chest clenched as I watched them embrace, but I smiled and acted like there was nothing wrong.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~WTLOR~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Sun, sand, blue skies, beautiful tanned people in skimpy outfits.

California.

We'd arrived just as the sun was setting, as Edward had predicted, and he insisted that we get a room at the _Hilton_, thinking that we in the very least deserved a good room and twenty-four hour room service.

While we had made the eight hour drive here, Edward had explained to us the relationships between his friends.

There was of course his younger sister Tanya, then Jasper, who he claimed was his best friend, Jasper's girlfriend of the past six years Alice, Jasper's younger brother Peter and his girlfriend Charlotte, then Carmen and Eleazar, and lastly Esme and Carlisle Cullen. Edward said that Esme and Carlisle were in their thirties, a few years older than the rest of them, and were the closest thing to a mother and father any of them had.

I found that a little sad, but didn't say anything on the matter.

We'd checked into the _Hilton_, Edward cryptically talking to the receptionist about getting _'the room they'd discussed over the phone'_.

Rose and I had both looked at each other, wondering with the hell he was talking about, but when Edward led us over to the elevators and pushed the button for the top floor, I had clue.

My thoughts were only reaffirmed when we came to a stop and Edward opened the door, revealing more of an apartment than a hotel room.

_The Penthouse Suite._

"I figured that we'll be here for a couple weeks, so we better live comfortably." He told us when I asked why he'd booked it.

Yeah, that's another thing.

We were meeting up with his friends and family for a week or two. He said that they did this every few months to kind of touch base with each other and do some planning and partying before going there separate ways for months.

To say Rose and I were nervous would be an understatement.

I wasn't afraid, more apprehensive about meeting the people who had been everything to Edward.

What if they didn't like us? What if they told Edward they thought we were horrible and he ditched us here to fend for ourselves?

I'd only known him for a few days, but already I didn't want to be without him.

_What kind of fucked up mental disorder was that?_

"You want to come shopping with me?" Rose startled me away from the book I'd been nose deep in. "Edward called to have a car rental delivered so we could go wherever we want. I think it's a convertible."

"I… I don't know." I hesitated.

I didn't like the idea of spending stolen money like that.

"Come on, Bella! Have some fun with me! It won't be the same with you, I'll be all by myself with no one tell me what jeans make my ass look good." She crouched down beside the cushy chair I was curled up in, looking up at me with her infamous wide puppy eyes.

"Alright… but I'm not buying anything." I told her firmly, setting my book down.

She rolled her eyes, obviously thinking that would change, and waited until I got changed to go out.

Changing from the sweatpants and t-shirt I'd been wearing around to just relax in, I put on a pair of cut off jean shorts, a loose white and blue stripped tank-top, and a pair of gladiator sandals.

Comfortable, but I still look halfway decent to go out in public.

I ran into Edward on my way out of my room, his cell phone seemed glued to his ear, talking to various people throughout the day.

"Tanya, hold on a minute." He said tensely into the phone, bringing it away from his ear without waiting for a reply. "Tell me not to scream at my sister."

"Don't scream at your sister, it's not nice." I smiled up at him.

Edward chuckled and the set of his shoulders relaxed instantly.

"Rose and I are going out for a while. She's just so excited to go out and spend money." I said dryly.

"Bella, I told the both of you that you could get or do whatever you want. Money is not much of a problem here, if it makes you happy I'm more than willing to part with a few grand." He grinned.

"You might regret saying that later." I muttered.

"Go, have fun, do whatever you wish to, I'll be here when you get back. Your car should be waiting out front for you, I've already given Rose the keys. I've just got to finish dealing with Tanya, hopefully by dinner time." He said, rolling his eyes a little at the mention of his sister.

"Bye." I laughed a little, walking past him out to where Rose was impatiently waiting.

We went down to the lobby, expecting to see maybe a Camry or something waiting for us, but it was very different.

A shiny red BMW convertible sat waiting at the front curb.

"This cannot be ours." I said, my eyes running over the car a dozen times.

"I think I'm going to ask Edward to marry me. Or at least to be my sugar daddy." Rose joked.

"He can't be your sugar daddy, he's not old enough." I smirked.

"Marriage it is then." She giggled, jumping into the drivers seat.

I slid into the passenger side, the white leather seats more comfortable than one would think. The entire interior was the white leather, the stereo and CD player brand new and high-tech. This must have cost Edward a pretty penny - even to rent.

Rose took off, a look of pure joy on her face as she pulled onto the street. She'd never driven a car this nice, never thought she'd be able to, and was enjoying the hell out of it while she could.

Rose fit in with the whole California vibe.

Blonde hair, confident, beautiful. The only thing missing was a tan, and I'm sure that would be visible on her in couple days.

Me though… I felt a little out of place.

I didn't think I was California material, I wasn't into spray tanning and walking around in bikinis. The beach and sun was nice, but I knew once the novelty of it all wore off, I'd get as tired of all this as I was of everything in Forks.

Did that mean I was fickle? Maybe. Or maybe I just didn't like staying in one place for very long. Like Edward.

We stopped at several places, Rose going wild buying clothes and shoes, the salespeople loving the hell out of us, rushing to get us anything we asked for. After many conversations with Rose, I got a couple of things just out need for them. I only had a few pairs of shorts and couple of jeans. Not to mention the slim pickings on shirts I had. When I packed I'd just thrown clothes in randomly, not stopping to think about what I was packing.

I needed clothes fit for warm weather, at least for the next few weeks.

So I bought a few more pairs of shorts, shirts, and summer dresses, even a swimsuit at Rose's persistence.

It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon before we were finally exhausted.

I was silent as we drove back to the hotel, thinking about how we'd just spent thousands of dollars of stolen money for clothes.

"What's wrong?" Rose picked up on my mood, just like always.

I turned to her in the car, planning on laying everything out.

"This is stolen money, Rosie." I said. "Other peoples money that they put in that bank and then Edward went in and took it."

"I agree, this whole bank robbery thing is a little… weird. But everybody's got a job to do, right? Edward's just happens to be illegal. And as for those people's money… why can't we have it? I mean, if Edward earns it - one way or another - why can't he do whatever he wants with it? Possession is nine-tenths of the law." She finished, shrugging.

Of course that was Rose's way of thinking about it.

I blew a huff of air through my lips and rubbed my forehead, feeling a bit of a headache coming on.

She pulled up to the entrance, the valet waiting and taking the keys from Rose with a smile. We grabbed our bags out of the backseat and made our way back up to our room, or more like the whole floor.

As we walked in, we were greeted with Edward sitting in the living room area with a woman.

She looked like Edward; same hair color, the high cheek bones, sharp jaw line, her face much more feminine and pretty - almost model like, and though her eyes were a light brown instead of green, I could see that same deep stare Edward had as she looked at me.

Edward jumped up, looking a little nervous as he glanced between the three of us.

"This is my sister, Tanya." Edward introduced warily. "Tanya, this is Bella and Rosalie… a couple friends of mine."

"Hello." She said curtly, raking her eyes over me, clearly judging.

"Hello." I parroted coolly, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Tanya decided to come over and bug me this afternoon." Edward sighed, giving her a look.

"Can't I come see my brother?" She looked up at him innocently. "I just got in town this afternoon and I wanted to come by and say hi."

"You've been here for two hours." Edward groaned, sounding a lot like a kid annoyed with his little sister.

"Yes… and I believe that my time is up. Especially since you now have more… _enjoyable _company." She practically sneered, looking at us from the corner of her eye.

"Tanya, don't do that, they're just my friends." He sighed.

"Whatever you say big brother." She told him, but didn't sound convinced at all. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Remember - Jasper and Alice are coming in Thursday."

"I know." Edward said, anxious for her to leave.

"Bye, Tanya!" Rose sang as Edward's sister walked out the door. "I'm going to go sort all of this out." She said cheerfully, grabbing all her bags and heading to her room.

"I'm so sorry about that." Edward started to apologize. "She just popped up and I didn't have time to warn you that she was here. She likes to do that to mess with me."

"It's okay." I said, going over to stand before him. "She is your sister, you shouldn't have to worry about how we react if she wants to come to see you."

"Yeah, but this is your place too, you should have some say in who just pops in." He said to me.

"Your sister can come over whenever she wants, it doesn't matter to me." I insisted.

"She just wants to nag me." Edward chuckled. "I swear it's like she's the older sibling sometimes. And I'm sorry she's got to be such a bitch, the others won't be like that."

"Well I've already met Jasper and he seemed real friendly." I laughed.

Edward groaned and smiled. "Jasper is really harmless, he's just a bit of a flirt with beautiful girls."

I nearly blushed at the implication behind his words.

"Then he was flirting with the wrong girl." I said.

"No, he wasn't." Edward said, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "Actually… when he was flirting with you… I was jealous."

"_You _were jealous?" I asked skeptically.

"I wanted to do a lot more than what I actually did." Edward admitted. "I pulled him away, but I felt this urge to punch him in the face and tell him to never touch you again. Hell, I wanted to throw him out and make you giggle and blush like he did."

I didn't know what to say to any of that.

"That's too much, isn't it?" Edward asked after I remained silent.

"No!" I almost shouted at him, then toned my voice down. "No, I'm just a little astounded that you're saying all of this. I just never thought someone like you would say anything like that to me."

"Someone like me?" He sounded confused.

"An attractive, slightly older man." I smirked.

"Are you calling me old?" He quirked an eyebrow, smiling down at me.

"Maybe… I don't actually know how old you are." I realized out loud.

"I'm only twenty-seven. Not an old man preying on an innocent young woman." Edward laughed.

"What makes you so sure I'm innocent?" I asked.

Edward took a step forward, our chests just a couple inches apart, the top of my head only coming up to his shoulder. I had to tilt my head back to keep looking him in the face.

"Your eyes…" He murmured. "Your innocent little eyes that look at me and see the good instead of the bad."

His hand reached up to my face absently, his fingertips grazing my cheek. My breath caught in my throat at his touch.

"It's kinda hard _not to _see all the good in you - there's so much of it." I whispered.

Edward smiled crookedly down at me, bringing his head down to rest his forehead against mine. His lips were so close to mine I could feel his warm breath wash against my own.

"How I would love to see the world through these eyes." He mumbled, brushing his thumb under my right eye.

"Are you going to kiss me?" I blurted out.

"Do you want me to kiss you, little bird?" Edward asked in a whisper.

"I wouldn't mind it." I said softly.

Edward's lips touched my own, just a gentle brush at first, then a little firmer. I whimpered a little at the feel, my mouth opening the tiniest bit, and his tongue was suddenly there prodding against my bottom lip.

My hand came up to grip his shirt, using the leverage to push up against his lips and tongue.

Edward groaned a little into my mouth, the vibration echoing down my throat as he continued to move against my lips. I felt his hand that wasn't cupping my face grab hold of my waist, pulling to mold me against him.

I could feel heat radiating from him even through his shirt, soaking into my skin.

I couldn't get enough of him.

His mouth and hands and just every single thing about him was like a glass of cold water on a hot sunny day.

Edward's hand slowly moved from my waist up my back, trailing along my spine until he was lightly gripping the back of my neck.

His lips slowed down against mine, nipping gently on my bottom lip before his tongue ran across to soothe it.

All too soon for my liking Edward pulled away, breathing heavily as he stared into my eyes.

"Little bird?" He asked, his voice rough and making me shiver.

I cleared my throat, trying to pull myself together and calm my racing heart.

"That was… uh… yes…" I managed to mumbled out.

Edward cracked a smile and combed his fingers through my curls.

My first kiss from a man.

Yes - a man.

That's what Edward was. He wasn't some clumsy boy that didn't know what to do with himself or me. He was sure, confident, controlled and passionate at the same time.

All I remember of kissing Jake was sloppy lips and fumbling or sometimes rough hands.

"There's that blush I wanted." Edward grinned.

I couldn't help but laugh and look down shyly. That was weird - I'd never been very shy around the guys in Forks, but Edward was a whole other breed of man.

"And the giggle. God, that's a beautiful sound." He sighed, closing his eyes in reverence.

"You're gonna make me blush even more." I told him.

"Good. I love it when you turn that pink color… it makes me want to kiss you all over again." He confessed.

"Just so you know, you can kiss me like that again whenever you want." I said.

"Note taken." He smiled.

"I better go and help Rose now." I said softly, not really wanting to.

"Go, I'll order something for dinner - Chinese sound good?" Edward asked.

"Sounds great." I nodded.

**~*~*~*~*~*~WTLOR~*~*~*~*~*~**

"He kissed you?" Rose sounded like she was in awe.

"Well don't sound so surprised." I teased her.

"Oh, you know what I mean!" She smacked my leg. "How was it? Like just a little kiss, or a full on porno kiss?"

"It was… like nothing I've ever felt before." I said dreamily. "I've never kissed anyone that could do that with their mouth."

"You've only ever kissed Jake." She said. "And if you count Tyler in the third grade, but that's not a real, get your heart pumping and want to fuck each other, kiss."

"Hell, I didn't even have that with Jake. I mean, with Edward it was just so… so passionate." I said, flopping onto my back on Rose's bed.

"I'm jealous." Rose said.

"What?" I asked.

She blew out a breath and laid down beside me. "I've been with a few guys, yeah, but I've never had that feeling of passion and a real connection. I've always had sex just for the sex, the fun of it, the basic of feeling good. And from the way you're describing things, one kiss between you and Edward is more powerful than my whole sex life combined together."

"I'm sure that someday you'll come across a guy you feel that with." I tried to assure her.

She looked a little sad for a moment, but quickly perked up and rolled over onto her stomach, looking down at me.

"Has Renee tried to call you?" She asked suddenly.

"I don't think so." I said slowly.

Honestly, I hadn't even looked at my phone since we left. There was no one who would call that I wanted to talk to.

"I checked my phone earlier and there's like ten voicemails from my dad. All ranging from being worried and asking me to just call him, to screaming about _getting my ass back home now_." Rose rolled her eyes.

"What about your brother?" I asked.

"He's left a couple text messages wondering where I am, but that's it from him." She told me.

"I don't really care if Renee _has _called, I have nothing to say to her and I don't want to hear anything from her." I said a little stubbornly.

I went into my own room after that, throwing all my bags on the bed haphazardly as I went for my suitcase.

My laptop, most of my clothes, a couple books I packed and my cell phone were still neatly placed in there. Pulling my phone out of one of the small pockets, I switched it on, the screen lighting up and a message alerting me that I eleven missed calls flashed across the screen.

What surprised me wasn't the nine calls on there from Renee, it was the other two on there from Jake. It was his cell number, not the number for the diner, so I didn't think it was just calls about why I wasn't at work.

I looked at my voicemail - five from Renee and two from Jake.

I didn't bother listening to them, tossing my phone on the bedside table.

"Dinner's here!" Edward shouted, bringing my thoughts away from the phone.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~WTLOR~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

It was a comfortable evening; the three of us sat watching movies and eating cartons of Chinese food.

It was about nine o'clock, in the middle of our third movie, with Rose and I laying on the couch and Edward sprawled out in the large cushy chair. Then out of no where my headache from earlier came back full force

Shooting stabs of pain all the way from my temple to the back of my head, making me clutch at the side of my head.

"What's wrong?" Edward leaned over and asked.

"I've just got a headache." I said, trying not to wince too much.

"Do you want me to go get you some Tylenol?" He asked, sounding concerned.

"No, I can go get it down at the shop." I told him, standing up.

There was a little gift shop down in the lobby area that sold stuff like that. So I put on some shoes and went out, taking the elevator down to the lobby.

Thankfully, with it being so late there weren't a lot of a people around, I was able to find a small box of Tylenol and a bottle of pop just for the hell of it. I needed my caffeine fix, damn it.

I opened the bottle while I was in the elevator, taking a couple pills out and gulping them down with some of my Dr. Pepper, anxious for this horrible fucking pain to go away.

I got back to our room, opening the door and expecting to see Edward and Rose watching the movie still.

I could not have been more wrong.

My eyes widened and I felt my mouth drop open.

I had to do a double-take in order to believe what was in front of my eyes.

Rosalie with Edward.

Horizontal on the couch.

He was laying down on his back, Rose straddling his hips as she leaned over his chest, looking like they were trying to devour each other as they kissed. His hands were gripping her honey blonde hair, Rose's own hands busying themselves by touching every part of his chest she could reach.

An entire spectrum of feelings flashed through me. Betrayal, sadness, jealousy, anger, confusion.

Most of all anger.

So when I felt my feet carrying me toward the couch, where they still hadn't noticed I was even in the room, I couldn't or wouldn't stop myself from uncapping the bottle of Dr. Pepper in my hands, stretching my arm out above them, and dumping the entire bottle on top of them.

Rose shrieked and jumped away, now covered in sticky pop, and Edward sat straight up, wiping away the bit that got on his face as he looked at me with worried eyes.

"Bella, we can explain!" Rose yelled.

I paid her no attention, throwing the now empty bottle in Edward's lap, shooting him a glare one last time, then turned on my heels and marched out the door.

* * *

**What do you think of all that?**

**Just remember what I said in the A/N at the beginning of the story.**

**The link for my fanfiction Tumblr is on my profile page. There's a lot of stuff on there.**


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